Strength and Weakness
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: Rio had promised to teach Kotori how to duel. Kotori had started to learn, but never finished. But a tag duel against a pair out for revenge wasn't how she'd planned on finishing the lessons.


**A/N:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, h3 – a oneshot, and for the Female Spotlights Challenge, with Kotori as the character of the month.

Note that there are a handful of made up cards in the duel in this fic, largely because there are very few water/winged beast monsters (Rio's archetype), Kotori's deck is barely touched upon (though I think I used all existing cards for her), and the other two had decks in canon entirely focused upon their numbers so they had to have made some changes somewhere... So if you type a card name into google and nothing shows up, that's why. :D

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Strength and Weakness**

 **.**

 **.**

Kotori had asked Rio to teach her how to duel. In retrospect, she'd made the request too lightly, though the skill would have been useful in events afterwards and Rio had agreed. Because she hadn't followed up much on the matter. She'd put together a deck that looked like it could work following Rio's recommendations: about twenty monsters, ten each of spells and traps, cards that support each other and don't rely on too exact activating conditions this early on in her duelling career. And then the monsters: try to have a few higher level monsters but mostly ones that can come out without a sacrifice because nobody wants a dead hand and the less versatile the cards are, especially in a strange new deck in the hands of a strange new duellist, the more likely a dead hand becomes.

And then there were the basics: putting a monster sideways on a duel disk summoned them in attack position. They could attack like that, but if they attacked or were attacked by a monster with higher attack points, the monster would get destroyed. Putting a monster sideways on the duel disk meant defence position, and aside from special summonings like Xyz and a whole bunch of other stuff, monsters were placed in defence position face down. A duellist could only summon one monster per turn normally, again ignoring special summonings or card restrictions, and to normal summon a monster above level four, one had to sacrifice a monster on the field. That was called advance summon. Most of those basics she knew from just watching duels: Yuuma and Tetsuo mostly and, more recently, Kaito and Shark as well.

So she managed to fumble her way through one turn of a tag duel – and it was probably a good thing she hadn't been much of a duellist at that time, considering she was brainwashed at the time. But when she was trapped in that Barian vine as a hostage, watching helplessly as Yuuma fought with an even greater weight on his shoulders than he usually carried, she understood what Rio meant in striving for the strength to stand up for herself, so she wasn't caught as the weakness of her brother like she'd once, with Tron and IV, been.

And even though the Barians were defeated and granted a second chance of life by the Numeron Code along with Kaito, and Astral had returned to his own world and life was, in a manner of speaking, back to normal, being helpless was a feeling she couldn't just scrub off her skin. And Rio hadn't done anything Kotori herself hadn't: she'd followed Shark like Kotori had followed Yuuma, and there was only fate and Don Thousand to blame that Shark and Yuuma had wound up on opposite ends of the battlefield, and besides that, the only thing Rio, or Merag, had done to hurt them was defeat Tetsuo in that duel. And if Tetsuo didn't hold it against her, how could she? Heck, if Yuuma didn't hold _Vector_ responsible for all the grief he'd put them through, what could she say about the ones like Merag and Durbe who'd done pretty much nothing to earn their rebuke.

Like Tetsuo said, Rio-san was still Rio-san. And like Yuuma said, Shark was still Shark as well. So Kotori shouldered that mentality and stopped her senior in the hallway. 'Rio-san!'

Rio froze, before turning around. Her face though looked relaxed as she addresses Kotori. 'Kotori-chan.'

But it wasn't relaxed. They hadn't been eating together, walking home together, generally hanging out together…

And that made things suddenly awkward, because Kotori had forgotten all about how Rio, or Merag, now felt around them. But they were there now, standing in the hallway, stagnant and waiting while other students flowed past and it wouldn't remain that way forever.

'You haven't been eating with us lately,' said Kotori lamely. 'Shark comes, sometimes.'

Rio snorted, sounding like her old self in that moment. 'Yuuma drags him.'

'Ah.' Yuuma hadn't said as much, and neither had Shark, but she could imagine it. Too bad he hadn't managed to win Rio over the same way. Maybe if he stopped calling her Shark's sis… 'He's an idiot.'

'Vector's the idiot.' Rio snorted again. 'He goes and marches off the moment he's alive again and goodness knows how he's going to manage without any connections when all he had to do was apologise – ' She cut herself off and Kotori blinked at her.

'I guess it's not that easy to apologise?' she offered.

Rio shook her head. 'It's very easy, especially when it's you lot. I can't speak for Vector, but it's harder to change again, or go back. Because things have changed. I killed Tetsuo-kun and his forgiveness isn't going to change that. Our comrades killed other friends and allies of yours, you're your forgiveness won't change that. And it shouldn't, because that will make everything that happened meaningless.'

And what could Kotori say to words like that? She wasn't sure if even Yuuma could have come up with something, because this wasn't Rio saying she was giving up on duelling, or life, or their friendship. Or Kotori didn't think that was what she meant at least. But still, she had to say something. Something that wasn't changing the subject and making light of the matter. She'd already paid once for making light of something: making light of the effort to teach her how to duel and winding up the damsel in distress. And that was something she didn't want to repeat again. 'Putting distance between us makes our forgiveness seem a little meaningless, but we're also at fault for not dragging you ourselves.'

Rio was silent a moment, turning her head a little to watch the specks that were students outside. 'Alit and Gilag are skipping school today,' she said, finally. 'Do you know if Yuuma is planning on asking my brother?'

In the few short conversations they'd had since the introduction of the last two Barian Lords, Kotori had noticed that Rio didn't call her brother by his name anymore – either of them. Kaito and IV still called him "Ryouga" and Yuuma still called him "Shark" but it seemed Rio didn't know anymore what to call him and went for the generic term. Or maybe it was something else. She hadn't stuttered at all and the unsure would stutter.

She returned to the question instead. 'I don't think so. He knows Alit and Gilag aren't here and figured Durbe and Mizael might get lonely by themselves.' Though maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing. They'd be forced to make new friends, or enemies. There were too many students for a table of two to stay that way for long.

Rio appeared to be thinking the same thing. 'Tell him if he does, I'll come along too. Durbe and Mizael could do with a little socialising.'

Kotori smiled and nodded. That sounded like the old Rio and her sharp beak.

Rio turned to go. The conversation had moved from its stilted phase to a slow oscillation, but Kotori had had an ulterior motive. Now, she wondered if it was the best time to ask, or if she even should. She'd squandered her own opportunity after all. And she felt like she'd be pushing her problem on the other girl if she asked now. What Rio needed was to belong in their knit of friends again.

'See you at lunch,' she cried instead, waving.

Rio's return wave looked rather like Shark's.

 **.**

Kotori passed on the message and, predictably, Yuuma took that as permission and dragged Shark over to their table. Rio followed, and so did, to the surprise of the others, Durbe. He mumbled something about not wanting to be apart from both Nasch and Merag as his excuse and settled beside Rio and the class rep, who settled the other in into a discussion about something literary.

Kotori shuffled so she was sitting beside Rio and asked what she thought about going to the big sale at the plaza on Sunday. Yuuma was shouting up to Shark every now and then and the boys (plus Cathy) were wrapped up in their own conversation. About duelling, predictably. Not about duelling each other though, which was the interesting bit. Rather, Yuuma was looking for a way to defeat Kaito.

Which was a rather difficult thing to find, considering the only person they knew to have defeated Kaito was Tron, and that was with the Numbers no longer in this world.

Now that Kotori thought about it, had Shark and Yuuma ever had a duel without the Numbers? But she knew Shark wasn't interested in duelling Yuuma in the near future. Yuuma was disappointed but Tetsuo and Alit and Kaito picked up the slack. Of course, Yuuma lost every time to Kaito, and they'd scheduled another duel for Saturday. Hence why Yuuma and the others were talking about duelling and Shark was throwing his own input in as well. So were Rio and Durbe and the class rep, even engaged in their own conversations, as though it was a perfectly ordinary lunch, though stilted it was.

But Kotori still couldn't be called a duellist, and all she really did was cheer Yuuma on. It had never made her feel pathetic before – except that one time when Shingetsu had said she didn't deserve to be the mascot of the Numbers club for that fault. She'd felt useless before, sure. Like that time when Number 96 had possessed Astral and taken Yuuma hostage. Thank goodness Tetsuo hadn't been so mad as to not duel for his best friend's sake, because Kotori hadn't owned a single card at that time. And yet it wasn't until she was trapped and helpless and the hostage did it really click at how powerless she'd left herself by not learning how to duel, and she really understood what drove Rio to be as strong as she was. Even now, she was hiding her uncomfortableness and saying how she needed some accessories and the sale would be the perfect time to pick something out. Kotori agreed. She still hadn't replaced the ribbon Obomi had claimed for herself…and it couldn't hurt to get Obomi another ribbon as well – or maybe matching barrettes. And Akari wasn't exactly a comfortable shopping partner. Neither was Tetsuko, nor Cathy. Usually Kotori went with some other female classmates, but she and Rio had something that was lacking from those other friends.

And one step led to another step, then a walk, then a jog. Or that's how it should go…right?

Though Kotori had to wonder what she'd said that Yuuma hadn't to make Rio want to come and eat lunch together with them that day.

 **.**

Rio didn't eat with them again. Nor did Durbe, though Shark ate with them on Friday too. Saturday saw the duel between Yuuma and Kaito, which ended in Yuuma's defeat again. They were both getting stronger: Kaito and Yuuma. It was a close match again, and aside from the first duel they'd fought and she'd been frozen in time for, it always was.

Sunday was the shopping date with Rio and Kotori caught a ride with her father and found herself waiting in the square by the parking lot before Shark's motorcycle showed up. He didn't say much, just let Rio off, nodded a greeting to Kotori, and said: 'Have fun, imouto,' before driving off.

Kotori hadn't noticed that Shark hadn't been calling Rio by her name either. Her brow furrowed as she puzzled over that.

'It's not that we're suddenly uncomfortable in calling each other,' Rio said. She'd caught the expression. 'Or even calling ourselves: we're Nasch and Merag of the Barians, reincarnated from the king and priestess of United Lands of the Poseidon Ocean. Kamishiro Ryouga and Rio died in a car crash with their parents and left behind the shells we now possess. But so many people know us as Ryouga and Rio, and for years we _were_ Ryouga and Rio. And we die again and are reborn again, we may have different names but we'll always be brother and sister, and that's why.'

Kotori saw. That relationship as brother and sister was perhaps the one thing that had remained constant after all had been revealed. The thing that remained constant now that they'd been restored by the Numeron Code as well. The thing that nothing seemed capable of breaking. And there was nothing wrong at all with them calling each other "onii" and "imouto". 'I see,' she said. 'That makes sense.' And what else was there to say? What else _could_ she say? 'You're both amazing.'

Rio stared. Kotori blushed. That had sort of slipped out by itself. 'I mean,' She waved her arms. 'Your lives have been pretty crazy, and then there's the whole everyone's out to get you thing, and then the whole Don Thousand manipulating everyone thing –' She stopped at the expression on Rio's face. 'I mean – uhh, let's go shopping now!' She wasn't good at these situations. Yuuma she could deal with, because Yuuma was always putting his foot in his mouth anyway and, really, all she had to do was yell at him.

Rio took the distraction and turned around, before muttering something under her breath. Kotori turned around as well and froze. She recognised the two motorcycles approaching – or, rather, the two riding them. The brothers who'd tried to rob the museum and frame Shark for it. The brothers possessed by the Numbers who Shark and Yuuma had tag-teamed to defeat.

'What are they doing here?' Kotori moaned. They probably remembered her. And even if they didn't, there was no way they'd miss Shark's twin sister. Even without their memories of the Number, they'd been both mad and terrified of him. But that was Shark. And Rio had once said that many such people saw her as the weaker link.

Rio frowned, but said nothing. She didn't move either, and there wasn't any point. The square was empty, although the parking lot was overflowing. Still, the two motorcycles came all the way to the edge, like Shark's, and the two men got off.

'Look who we have here,' said one. Rikuo, with his dreadlocks still hanging over his face. 'It's the girlfriend of that Yuuma kid, and the traitor's little sister.'

Kaio smirked as well. 'Better than the dessert we came to pick up,' he commented. 'Revenge is a dish best served cold after all.'

Rio snorted. It was very different to when she snorted about something ridiculous, Kotori thought. 'You mean the two of you haven't grown up at all? A pity; I thought my brother might have influenced you a little, at least.'

'Oh, he influenced us.' Rikuo's smirk turned into a scowl. 'We had to be careful. He got back his reputation. We couldn't mess with him and he had dirt on us to boot. Put us in a real hole.'

'But a friendly duel's nothing he can complain about,' said Kaio. 'Restoring our reputations, so to speak.'

They didn't have Numbers anymore, Kotori reminded herself. And yet, there was still a dangerous undertone to their words. Rio seemed to think so as well. She narrowed her eyes at the pair. 'And this duel involves?'

'A simple request if you lose,' said Rikuo. 'Same for the two of you if we win.'

Rio glanced at Kotori, who'd caught the words. "We" as in a tag duel. As a duellist with a barely functional deck and the only experience she had was either losing badly or watching others' duels. And Rio knew that. Rio knew exactly how well Kotori could duel because she'd taught her.

But she couldn't just leave Rio to duel with those two by herself. Particularly with their cheating ways. Because they didn't exactly have the means to make them not. Nor had they the means to turn tail and run because the square was empty besides them and they had blocked off the parking lot. They could try and run into the mall, but Rio didn't look like she'd be running. She wasn't looking at Kotori anymore. She was staring at the two men again. Maybe wondering how much she could push. Maybe wondering how much she dared to push.

Finally, she turned to Kotori again. The smile on her face seemed a little forced and her tone a little too bright. 'Shall we?'

Kotori gulped but nodded. Good thing she'd taken to carrying her deck and duel disk everywhere. Now, if only she could muster up some experience and luck from somewhere, Yuuma possibly, she'd be all set.

 **.**

There was plenty of space in the square for a tag duel. The four of them took a corner each and activated their D-gazers – Rio's was still inherently Barian, changing her right eye from dark pink to pale blue. But her duel disk was the same one she'd always used. If it had changed somewhere in between, Kotori didn't know about it. She liked Rio's duel disk anyway. Once she was a better duellist, she was going to buy a custom one like that. Though perhaps more like fairy wings than the fringes of snow petals.

The two brothers' looked exactly the same as they had back then, except their decks were shuffled. She was positive: she watched to make sure because they'd cheated when playing against Yuuma and Shark so who said they wouldn't cheat again? And they weren't even sorry to boot.

Hopefully the ire would help her duelling skills. And Rio's example.

And she grabbed the mantle immediately, and the first turn. 'Draw!' Her lips were pursed as she examined the cards in her hand, before selecting one and slapping it in the monster zone. 'I summon Blizzard Falcon in attack mode.'

The blue coloured bird spread its wings as its image emerged on the field. The two men said nothing, but Kotori thought she could guess what was coming next. She'd seen Blizzard Falcon in the duel against Shark. She'd used it for effect damage and how many times had she seen a player take the early lead with effect damage in a tag duel? Because it was only attacks not allowed in the first round. Everything else was fair game.

Rio played another card. 'I equip the spell Frozen Claws to my Blizzard Falcon. With it, I can send a monster of the same level from my hand to the graveyard, and add its attack points to Blizzard Falcon.' There was a card already between her fingers, chosen. 'I send Blizzard Thunderbird with 1600 attack points to the graveyard. Now you take 1600 points of damage.'

Kotori had to giggle at the befuddled expressions on the brothers' faces as Blizzard Falcon slashed in the air with its elongated claws.

Rio was amused as well. 'Did I skip a step?' she asked. 'Blizzard Falcon's monster effect is that, when its attack points increase, my opponents take the amount of increase as damage.'

'Pah,' said Kaio with a grimace. 'Very cute, but don't start celebrating yet.'

'I plan on celebrating when you're good and beaten,' was Rio's reply as she ended her turn with a face-down.

Rikuo took his turn then. Kotori was surprised to see it wasn't Kaio, before remembering the other had sacrificed his own life points for his brother in the duel against Kaito and Shark. Rio probably remembered that as well. That was why she was aiming for the shield first, and it made sense. One player would be easier to deal with than two. She could take advantage of that as well. But first she had to pay attention.

And she blinked in surprise, because it wasn't an ice dinosaur monster that Kaio called out, but Skreech. And Skreech was a water attribute, yes, but a reptile one.

'I'll also play four face down cards and end my turn.' And he did just that, leaving one empty slot in his magic and trap card zone, and one card in his hand.

It was Kotori's turn. _I hate face down cards_ , she groaned to herself, staring at the four in front of Kaio. They were too easy to bluff with, and too easy to walk into traps with too. But there was nothing to be done about them – and if they were battle related, she couldn't walk into them on the first turn anyway. 'My turn,' she said, taking a deep breath and fingering the top card on her duel disk. 'I draw!'

It was Bountiful Artemis. 1600 attack points weren't bad, and the defence was only a hundred more. Moreover, she wouldn't be able to use Artemis' ability if the card was face down. _So here it goes_. 'I summon Bountiful Artemis in attack mode.'

Rio glanced at the monster, then at her and Kotori wondered if, already, she'd made a mistake. But then Rio gave a small nod and turned back to the duel, and Kotori let out a sigh of relief. But still – if Rikuo summoned a stronger monster, or if Kaio summoned a stronger monster before her turn… It was so easy to second-guess a single move. Too easy.

But she'd made her move anyway. And with four face-downs, the opponents were unlikely to do something to destroy all the magic and trap cards out. She hadn't seen Rio use card destruction either, so she should be safe in playing her cards face down. But which ones?

She read them, ignoring the impatience the others exhumed. Rio had told her to read her cards before doing anything with them, and watching Shingetsu in that duel (even though they now knew it was fake), she'd seen the wisdom in that act. She didn't have Negate Attack which was a shame, though she had Waboku which did the same – just without the bonus of using Artemis' effect. She did have a counter trap though: Drastic Drop-off. And Solemn Wishes which would mean extra life points. And Declarer Prophecy and Divine Punishment which she couldn't use right then anyhow. 'I play three cards face down and end my turn.'

Rio was looking amused again. Maybe because their opponents looked impatient. Kotori hoped that meant her taking her time could wind up helping them in this match.

Now, next question was when to use Drastic Drop-off. Rikuo was drawing a card now. And her hand could use a bit of replenishing. And she could miss the opportunity to activate it later on. And she could get a better counter trap and need the space. And she could –

Whoops, he'd already skipped ahead to the main phase. _For Kaio, then,_ Kotori decided. They were after Kaio anyway, so maybe that was better. Except when he revealed the card in his hand. 'I activate Dragon Ruler of Fire: Burner's effect, discarding it and Volcanic Buckshot from my hand to summon Dragon Ruler of Blazes – Blaster from my deck.'

'Level seven _already_?' Kotori gasped.

'And a pain to boot,' muttered Rio, frowning.

Rikuo smirked. 'I play one card face down and end my turn.'

That was the first turn done. Kotori took another deep breath and inspected the field. The brothers looked confident, which she thought was odd, seeing as Rio had the 3100 attack point Blizzard Falcon out and their team had a lead in life points to boot. Something was fishy. Those face down cards, probably.

She found out what when Rio drew her next card. Sort of.

'Trap card, activate.' Rikuo's only face down card flipped over. 'Backfire. Every time a fire attribute monster is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage.'

'Why would I be afraid of such little damage?' Rio asked. 'I summon Snowstorm Petrel.' It was slimmer, and grey bellied, but just as majestic as Blizzard Falcon. 'Snowstorm Petrel's effect: by reducing its attack points to 0 this turn, I can increase the attack points of another monster on my field by 1000.'

Blizzard Falcon's attack points rose again, and this time it was Rikuo's life that dropped by a thousand, much to the disgruntled cry of Kaio.

'Now,' Rio murmured, 'Let's see what you're hiding in those remaining face-down cards. Blizzard Falcon, attack Skreech!'

Kotori did the mental math in her head. If the attack went through, that would be 2600 points of damage, and he only had 2400.

But, of course, that was too easy. Two traps later, his life points were unscathed and Skreech's effect had seen two additional water monsters to the graveyard.

And the next turn, despite Kotori's Drastic Drop-Off counter trap, Kaio had a dragon on the field as impressive as Blaster, and as annoying, and the strategy the brothers were using this time began to make more sense.

 **.**

The combination slowly whittled away at their life points with Backfire and Ultimate Baseball Kid and increased their Red Dinosaur Dragon's and Blue Dinosaur Dragon's attack strength. If they'd been trying to knock one of them out first, they would have done it already but as it was, but two rounds later, Kotori and Rio were both down to their last 1000 life points.

Artemis had been sacrificed for the less circumstantial Tethys, but it hadn't lasted for very long either and Nova Summoner had only held out for so long. Rio was in a similar plight and was now verbally cursing her hindsight in not Xyz summoning Sylphine with Blizzard Falcon and Snowstorm Petrel when she'd had the chance. Neither of them could keep more than one monster on the field and she couldn't risk taking Kotori's and leaving her defenceless.

Or, at least, that was what Kotori assumed was the problem. But there was no time now. 'You can borrow my monster,' she said, her voice sounding tinier than she liked. Because it would leave her defenceless, since she'd already used Negate Attack – too early, if the current situation was anything to speak of.

But Rio shook her head. 'I need two winged beasts for Sylphine,' she said.

Two winged beasts… And then Kotori remembered Terraforming, and the field spell that was now in play on her field and she could have kicked herself. She groaned and hit her forehead. Terraforming could have called out Land of Frozen Flames and Rio would have been able to Xyz summon with it.

Rio's eyes flickered towards her again. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I'm the one who walked into their trap. It's not your fault.'

'I'm the one who keeps on making mistakes,' Kotori protested.

Rio snorted. That sounded more like the "you're being an idiot" one. 'They're nothing compared to Yuuma. Still calls me Shark's bro at times. _Honestly_.'

Kotori giggled, and soon that giggling was a full blown laughter. Maybe it was just the stress of the duel, the stress of dealing with two duellists like the brothers were. They put their combination together quickly, too quickly – Kotori couldn't help but think they were cheating again but she couldn't figure out how. There was something there. Definitely something and she'd been racking her brain between that and the duel so she just kind of…burst.

But it felt like a relief. And then she almost kicked herself again because she had Limit Reverse face down and Rio had an Aurora Wing in her graveyard she could summon with it.

'Rio-san!,' she cried. 'The face down on the right.'

Rio stared at the card, then at her and her encouraging nod, and nodded herself and flipped it. 'I play…Limit Reverse?' She blinked, then grinned. 'I summon Aurora Wing from the graveyard.'

And Sylphine was out and every card on the field was frozen, including the relentless combo that had been pounding away at them – and the Avalanche trap Kaio tried to catch it with, even if it did drop Rio down to her last 100 points to do it.

'That's not enough attack points,' Rikuo growled, though there was a flash of fear on his face. The combination of Tornado Wall and Forgotten Seabed Temple that had been protecting their life points had been nullified.

But Rikuo was right. The attack strength of Sylphine wasn't enough to destroy them both. But she managed to take Kaio out with Eagle Eyes, attacking directly in return for the monster which attacked to be destroyed in the end phase.

The turn skipped ahead to Kotori with Kaio's defeat. 'It's up to you,' said Rio.

Kotori's hand shook, fingers hovering over her deck. It was Rio who'd caused all the damage. Rio who'd defeated Kaio. Kotori had only defended herself and lent one little card to help and now Rio was saying it was all up to _her_?

'It's okay.' Rio turned fully to face her. 'I taught you duelling. Maybe not as much as I could have –'

'That was my fault,' cried Kotori, dropping her hand from her deck and slumping. 'I was the one who wasn't committed. I just thought it would be fun to learn, and even that duel against Yuuma wasn't good enough to knock some sense into my head. Not that I wanted to win that duel, but –'

'You wanted to be stronger,' Rio finished.

'Well…' Kotori took a shallow, stuttering, breath. 'Yeah.'

Rio paused. 'Did Yuuma ever tell you about Nasch's backstory?'

Kotori noticed she used "Nasch" that time, and not "onii". And with full confidence. Rio's explanation from before came back. It wasn't that she was unsure, it was just what was important. And it was important to say Nasch now – Nasch, not Shark or Ryouga or onii.

'From the Numbers ruin, you mean?' She looked up. Rio nodded. She shook her head. Yuuma hadn't mentioned that tale. There'd been no time, initially, and then afterwards it had become unimportant…or maybe it was something Yuuma would prefer not to talk about.

'I'll tell you later.' Rio turned her head back to the duel. 'But winning a duel doesn't always mean winning the battle. It doesn't always have to be that important, especially when it's not the world at stake and especially when you're duelling people with no honour.' She barked the last part, glaring at Kaio as she spoke. There was a card half-slotted into the duel disk and another on the floor. Kotori stared. Rio scowled.

It clicked. 'You were switching the cards!' And suddenly, she was furious. 'I mightn't have any experience but at least I'm not coward enough to cheat, and I'm woman enough to admit it when I make mistakes and get _on_ with my life.' She missed the sharp intake of breath from Rio. 'I draw!'

She had the 300 attack point Mashumaron on her field and what she needed was a way to deal 3000 points of damage in one turn. She couldn't help but think that the Dark Fairy Cheer Girl Yuuma had told her about would come in handy right about then. She had six cards in her hand. But Dark Fairy Cheer Girl no longer existed, so she needed something else.

'Relax,' said Rio. 'Read the text of your cards. Look at the field. Find a solution.'

Kotori took a deep breath, then read the text of the card she held. Then the other cards. Then the card Kaio had shoved into his magic and spell card zone. Even though his life points were zero, Rikuo could use the card. And if they'd played it now, it meant they were waiting for Rikuo's turn, or Sylphine's effect to expire on Rio's, and that was a card that would buy them time now that Tornado Wall wouldn't save them from battle damage and there was a weak link in the 2800 attack point Blaster.

If she could really call that a _weak_ link, but it really was her best bet. Or effect damage.

And then it clicked. Except she was risking something. And missing something.

If that face down card was to block an attack, she was safe. This would work. If it was to block a special summon, she was screwed.

'Okay.' She took a deep breath. 'I activate Declarer Prophecy, sending Little Fairy and Shining Angel from my hand to the graveyard to summon Herald of Perfection.'

No trap suddenly springing up to seize her monster. So far so good.

'Next I use Declarer Prophecy's other effect. When it's in my graveyard, I can remove it from play to add one of the monsters used in the ritual summon to my hand.' It didn't matter which, so she went with Little Fairy. 'And then I summon Little Fairy, and use her and Mashumaron to form the overlay network!'

Still going good…

'I summon Underdog Fairy!'

Rikuo snorted, despite himself. 'What a stupid name.'

But Rio was fighting back a smile. She knew the card. She'd seen it and she knew it was a special one of Kotori's, reminding her of Yuuma. And, of course, like the real Yuuma, it was going to bring about a reversal.

'I activate Underdog Fairy's effect.' Kotori double checked it just in case. 'When my life points are lower than my opponent's, I can detach an overlay unit to add the difference to her attack strength.' Which was 2100 points, to go with the 2000 already there. She did a quick calculation: that was only 1300 points of damage. 'I remove the other overlay unit and use that effect again!' And that made 3400. She almost sighed in relief. 'Underdog Fairy, attack Dragon Ruler of Blazes – Blaster!'

'I play my brother's trap,' Rikuo growled. 'Magic Cylinder.'

Kotori almost cringed, but Rio let out a bark of laughter. 'Like that will work,' she said. 'Or don't you know the special ability of Perfect Declarer? Kotori-chan can negate any spell, trap or monster effect that's activated by discarding one Fairy type monster to the graveyard. And she has one, don't you Kotori-chan?'

 _Right, I almost forgot why I played Perfect Declarer…_ 'Right,' said Kotori. 'I discard Dancing Fairies from my hand, so Magic Cylinder is negated.' And Rio collapsed her duel disk and her eye returned to normal because the duel was finished and they'd won, and Rikuo was angry enough to charge at them anyway.

But Rio's glare stopped him in his tracks. Or maybe it was the sudden drop in temperature, Kotori thought, rubbing the goosebumps that had risen on her arms. 'Let's go,' Rio muttered, turning and walking towards the entrance, and Kotori collapsed her own duel disk and followed. 'They won't follow?'

'They'll have to thaw out first,' was the reply, and Kotori stifled a giggle, before: 'Rio-san…'

'Let's get ice-cream first,' said Rio.

 **.**

So they licked at their ice-cream cones and talked. Rio told the story of their past lives, about Vector's role in their tragedy, about how Nasch had won the duel against Vector in the end, but at the cost of everything he'd known and loved. How winning had accomplished almost nothing, because Vector had gone home and covered his kingdom in its own blood. Two kingdoms worth of people and Nasch remained the only one alive, the one to grow bitter about all he'd lost while Vector's hatred was the only thing that remained behind…

'That's sad,' Kotori breathed. 'That's really, really, sad.'

Because she did know Vector's story. How completely he'd been twisted by Don Thousand. How cruelly.

Rio gave a half-shrug. 'We were also foolish, for allowing ourselves to believe the lies, allowing them to grow. Not my brother so much. He was led by anger a lot but he was only trying to protect his people, in the end. But the rest of us? It was because we had to do things ourselves. Because we couldn't trust. And that's why you were the one to win today, as well.'

'What do you mean?' asked Kotori, honestly confused.

'Limit Reverse,' Rio explained. 'If I'd drawn Land of Frozen Flames, I wouldn't have needed it.'

'But if I hadn't used Terraforming for The Sanctuary in the Sky, you could have –' Then she stopped. 'That would have been me helping you too.' It made more sense. Rio knew her duelling ability and it was okay, thanks to all the duels she'd watched, but not great. She wasn't a reliable partner like Yuuma, like Shark.

'Not that there's anything wrong with helping your partner in a tag duel.' Rio closed her eyes. 'That's what a tag duel is. More than just hammering away at shared opponents. Durbe understood that. Me? I was so focused on standing by myself, trying to not drag my brother down that I couldn't help Durbe at all. And I didn't really help you either.'

'But you help me put my deck together,' Kotori said. 'And you gave me Underdog Fairy because it reminded us of Yuuma. That's helping too. And I – I want to be strong and not drag Yuuma down as well. There's nothing wrong with that.'

'I didn't say there was,' Rio corrected. 'It's the trust portion I still need to work on.'

'Then…' Kotori mulled it over. 'You don't trust us?'

'I don't trust myself to trust you,' Rio explained. 'After Vector, and Don Thousand, and even Yuuma in a way – the only person on my side the whole time was my brother and that was because it was him I chose to follow, and not any belief or will or dream. And you all forgiving us so easily makes it harder, because…'

'Because it's something good, and good things don't last forever?' asked Kotori. 'But that's okay, isn't it? If good things did last forever, then they wouldn't be valuable.' She paused. 'Oh, that doesn't help at all, does it? Umm…' She tried again. 'I only found that combination because Rio-san was there beside me, and I was only able to put that deck together to begin with because Rio-san helped me. Maybe my deck wanted to win for the both of us. Maybe that's how it happened. And maybe you didn't draw Land of Frozen Flames because your deck felt that as well, and knew Limit Reverse would bring about the same end with a different meaning. And you trusted me to finish the duel, didn't you?'

Rio considered that, then smiled. 'Kotori-chan, you're really understanding duelling now.'

'Eh?' Kotori waved her arms and almost dropped her cone. 'I don't – I mean – I still need lots of practice.'

'Looks like watching the best duellists in Heartland City have sharpened your duelling instincts. And watching you all has melted a few snowflakes.' She closed her eyes. 'Kotori-chan?'

'Yeah?'

'I'm glad we had that duel.'

Kotori grinned. 'I could have done without those two, but I'm glad we duelled too. Yuuma will be so jealous. How will Shark react?'

'I think he'll be wanting to debone those two,' Rio replied. 'Assuming they haven't kneed over from frostbite.'

'…you're not serious, are you?' Kotori asked, after a pause.

Rio shrugged and finished off her ice-cream, and Kotori decided it was probably better not to know. An angry Rio had always been a lethal Rio, and this one had a few extra powers up her sleeve than when she'd chased the class rep and Tokunosuke-kun for spreading that rumour about her and Yuuma. At least they'd talked a bit – or a lot – and had a duel that made the both of them feel a little better about things, and… 'Rio-san? Will you eat lunch with us again?'

She considered. 'Sometimes,' she agreed. 'Need to babysit the other set of boys sometimes too.'

'They can't be as bad as Yuuma,' Kotori argued.

'Well, without Vector they're not _quite_ as bad…'


End file.
